The OFSAA TIMEOUT Podcast

Meet the Wessinger family! 

Students Jack, Reese and Riley Wessinger attend Our Lady of the Bay Catholic High School in Collingwood and each one just finished competing at OFSAA championships this winter. Jack hit the Osler Bluff ski slopes at the OFSAA Alpine Championship while older siblings Reese and Riley took to the pool in Windsor at the OFSAA Swimming Championship at the end of February.

Who do they credit for their athletic ambitions? What was their favourite part of the OFSAA experience?

With the number of sports they play, it’s no surprise that they will be competing for OFSAA medals this spring!

Long-time OFSAA advocates Heather Chambers and Barry Mutrie hint at some of the fun initiatives we can expect during OFSAA's 75th Anniversary in 2023-24. Both are well-connected members of the Anniversary Planning Committee.

As two individuals who have done it all with school sports during their life, both also reflect on their own experiences while sharing meaningful advice for aspiring high school teacher-coaches.

This motivating round-table discussion will make you want to grab a whistle and a clipboard while rallying the team together!

Well, you don’t have to be a baseball fan to enjoy the roundtable on this particular show – but – Toronto Blue Jays fans will most certainly enjoy it.

Blue Jays Sportsnet Central analyst Joe Siddall checks in and delivers messages for all coaches drawn from his years as a high school coach in his hometown of Windsor after a career in the big leagues.

Joe started in the Southwestern Ontario baseball sandlots as a kid and his hard work and talent took him all the way to “The Show” with Montreal, Florida and Detroit in the 90s.

His career path of seizing opportunities and stories of readiness will undoubtedly have an impact on listeners.

Long-time OFSAA Baseball builder, Brian Riddell, is alongside on the conversation. Brian has a passion for school sport and his encyclopedic baseball knowledge shines through here.

We hope that you enjoy this Siddall and Riddell episode.

Half A Century At The Coaching Helm!

Are you ready for some football?

Harry Lumley believes structure and fairness are the pillars to his coaching success. He should know - he's only been coaching high school football in Windsor for 56 years!

A 2012 inductee of the Windsor/Essex County Sports Hall of Fame, Harry, 76, has won 20 city championships as either an assistant or head coach. His gridiron squads have been frequent participants at the OFSAA Football Bowl Series Festival in the 21st century.

How did he first get started along the coaching path? What coaches did he idolize up close and from afar? Did we mention that he's still holding down the head coach position at W.F. Herman Academy Secondary?

Football enthusiasts and coaches will certainly enjoy the candidness and the story-telling of Harry Lumley as well as the reflections of this episode's co-host Peter Morris.

It's "The World's Greatest Athlete!"

Damian Warner and his long-time coach, Gar Leyshon, recount their time together as athlete and coach at Montcalm Secondary School in London, Ontario.

What team sport does Damian reflect on fondly as his spring-board to high school athletic success? What did Gar first see in Damian as a student-athlete?

How has Olympic glory changed everyday life in 2021 for our country's Closing Ceremony Flag Bearer? It's all here!

This is an episode that will surely get the motivational engines running for aspiring high school athletes and it will undoubtedly reinforce the benefits of athletics for dedicated coaches!

OFSAA championships and festivals returned in October for the first time in 19 months. How did we get here and what does an OFSAA event look like in 2021?

Two integral members of the OFSAA leadership group - President Carolyn Chesney And Acting Executive Director Shamus Bourdon - provide clarity and background on how the organization reached the point of a return to provincial championships.

Coach. Teacher. Mentor. Friend.

All of these words aptly describe this episode's special guest to those of us in the school sport community. A former high school teacher with a 37 year background in coaching has seen it all. The highly-respected Peter Morris reflects on a career in this episode that will entertain aspiring coaches and ones that have been around the block a time or two.

Over the years, Peter's dedication to school sport allowed him to connect with so many people outside of the coaching channel as well. He forged strong relationships with convenors, athletes, volunteers, event organizers and the overall OFSAA community during his tenure as a valuable OFSAA staff member from 1998 to 2019.

What was his most rewarding coaching moment? How does the "hidden potato trick" work in baseball? It's all here in our 10th episode!

Three years following the Humboldt Broncos' tragic bus crash, we hear from one of the team's captains, Kaleb Dahlgren. The 23-year old is joined in conversation with Sportsnet Central Host Martine Gaillard. They discuss his new book "Crossroads", diabetes, community, support teams, the loss of recent high school championships and a host of other important topics. You won't want to miss hearing about his emotional and physical recovery while learning about his future goals.

This is a motivational and powerful discussion that will undoubtedly appeal to Canadians of all ages!

Be sure to grab your copy of "Crossroads" at harpercollins.ca, Amazon or Indigo.

Find out about the movement that is the "Red Shirt Effect"! In the absence of sports over the last 12 months, Athletics Coordinator Michelle Lange has spear-headed a popular virtual training program to generate positive mental and physical well-being among teenagers. The goal is to assist athletes during this pause so that they are reinvigorated when the time comes to try out for for school teams when we return to sports in the future. 

Dedication Leads To Opportunity

Mallory Mackesy, 16, is multi-sport student-athlete at Saltfleet District High School in Stoney Creek and her dedication to field hockey has not gone unnoticed. Hear about her motivations and her thoughts on what it has been like for one high school athlete to miss out on OFSAA championship due to COVID-19 over the last calendar year.

Not one to sit still, Mallory has produced videos that put her backyard field hockey workouts on full display. The YouTube videos can be viewed on the homepage of ofsaa.on.ca. 

The grade 11 student is pleased to share that she will attending the University of Maine on a scholarship. We wish her well in her academic and athletic pursuits at Saltfleet and with the Black Bears beginning in 2022.

Follow Mallory at @mallory_fieldhockey on Instagram, /MalloryMackesy on Facebook and YouTube.

 It's a STUDENT TAKEOVER on this edition!   Sort of...

The female and male recipients of the 2020 OFSAA Character Athlete Award - Grace Petsnick of Fort Frances High School and Tristan Smith of École secondaire publique Maurice-Lapointe in Kanata -  share high school memories, thoughts on their unusual graduation year and let us in on their post-secondary plans.

Both will receive a $1,000 grant from Jostens as they stood out in the minds of the voting panel for their commitment to OFSAA's values of leadership, equity, respect and sportsmanship.

Roy Rana is one of the most influential figures in Canadian Basketball.

He reflects fondly on the many rewards of coaching high school basketball at C.W. Jefferys and Eastern Commerce. He started coaching in high school at age 24 and he hasn't looked back.

Rana stands by the theory of "be willing to take risks!"

After decorated tenures at the high school and university level, Rana is currently in his first season on the coaching staff of the NBA's Sacramento Kings.

Listen to what he attributes to the steady influx of Canadian talent currently on NBA rosters. It's not the answer that you're used to hearing.

Ballers and coaches of all sports will find interest in hearing the name of a well-known basketball coach that Rana admires the most and the name doesn't start with "Red" or "Phil".

That and more here on Episode 5!

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"It's okay not to be okay". 

This episode is an educational discussion for coaches and student-athletes . Krista Van Slingerland is our guest and she educates us on an important topic in today's society and sporting landscape - Mental Health Literacy In Sports.

Krista is the co-founder, and recently named executive director, of the CANADIAN CENTRE FOR MENTAL HEALTH AND SPORT. Based in Ottawa, the CCMHS is a not-for-profit organization supporting the mental health and performance of competitive and high-performance athletes and coaches. It is the first centre in North America to offer collaborative sport-focused mental health care services designed to help athletes and coaches achieve their performance goals while preserving their mental health and well-being.

Krista has turned her own struggle with a mental health disorder into a career focused on working with athletes, coaches, parents and administrators to make Canadian sport a safer and more inclusive place for athletes struggling with mental illness. You should also know that Krista has learned a lot about the coach-athlete relationship through her experience as a standout collegiate basketball player at Carleton University and the University of Ottawa. She is also a researcher in the field of applied sport psychology.

Krista is a good follow on Twitter (@KVanSlingerland) and she can be reached at the website: ccmhs-ccsms.ca. Here you can learn about their team of distinguished experts and find some practical tools to assist you. Below are some resources recommended by Krista.

Crisis Resources:

Kids Help Phone - Text "CONNECT" to 686868, kidshelphone.ca

Youthspace.ca - Text (778) 783-0177, youthspace.ca

Online Resources:

Better Help - betterhelp.com (online access to professional counsellors)

The LifeLine App - thelifelinecanada.ca (direct access to phone, online chat, text and email crisis support)

Big White Wall Canada - bigwhitewall.ca (anonymous peer support community accessible anytime and anywhere)

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Join us for our "Roundtable" comprised of three current female teacher-coaches from different regions of the province. It's a candid discussion on how high schools can engage girls to start and maintain an active lifestyle through high school sports and physical education.

TSN's award-winning broadcaster, James Duthie stops by to relive his high school football and soccer glory days while growing up in Ottawa. He also shares a few humorous stories from the hockey desk at TSN.